Fall in Colorado

Here's a couple of pics from last weekend. The first is a collage of Aspens, Cottonwoods, Junipers and Pinon in the San Luis Valley.



This second picture is from the next day, driving 285 through South Park. Yah, winter's a coming.

Leaving Crestone .. for now

Kept looking in the mirror as I headed West on County Road T. Hard to leave. Couple of wet spots appeared on my shirt. Must be a quick cloud burst through the open window ...

We had a fantastic 6 weeks of experience here. Now it was time to hand it back to the our great renter.

Coming home to Boulder was not really like coming home. It was like coming to a different familiar place. A place where the weeds need whacking and where it seemed harder to schedule free time to exercise. In Crestone, free time meant exploring. In Boulder, it's excercise. Maybe that says it all and I just need a change. I dunno what it is .. maybe Boulder has become boring ...

Kalashnikov & Glock Security Services

I think this guy means it. We were trying to find the Promised Land climbing area (rockclimbing.com) in Nicomedes Gulch - NW of Monte Vista.

Bouldering in the Valley .. that's the San Luis Valley

We found the SLV is host to GREAT bouldering.

We found square miles of boulders at Elephant Rocks, 1st photo on left. A little searching is required to find the better rocks because Elephant Rocks is an absolute maze! I can see creating some convoluted bouldering/ orienteering/ running circuits here. Just need some time ... Location is here!

The boulders under South Eagle Rock are built of cobbles & pockets of joy. See middle photo. Christy said it's like a combination of Maple Canyon and El Rito. The bouldering is a friggin' riot. At the top of every problem, we'd be saying - Wow, that was fun! There is good bouldering for kids too, see right photo above. We found this out the scary way. Julia yelled - Mama, Papa, I'm on top. Mia & I looked at each other and said - On top of what? as we scrambled to find which boulder she was on top of. Oh man! - what have we created?!

Oh, I forgot to mention that some of the boulders under South Eagle Rock (photo, topo) are big, bigger than some sport climbs. What is really fascinating though is what I'm calling South Eagle Rock itself. [Bob D'Antonio's guide to SLV describes the boulders as being under Eagle Rock. This is incorrect, at least in the old 1994 guide that I have. Later, we found the real Eagle Rock (photo, topo)]. If South Eagle Rock is of good quality as the boulders below, it needs attention!

Click on the photo mosaic above for more pictures!

A Crestone Independence Day Celebration

Tuesday night we had BBQ & beer at the Silver Crest Palace while listening to live music. The bar has 18 beer taps! That's right, 18 - and they're all in use. Talked to some nice folks while Julia found new friends to play with.

The morning of Independence Day, we ran the Crestone 5k race. Julia did great. It certainly helped that more new friends ran next to her. Yeah, we did a bit of walking but 3 miles is a long way for a 5 year old! (Me too ...)

More festivities later on .. live music, spiritual exhibits, etc ... could have been some food too but I forgot the wallet at home. Again Julia found her new, old friends to play with. Seems to be a common theme. It's certainly easier to find children here.

4th of July pics here!

BTW, That's Julia in the picture under 4 of the 14'eers - Challenger, Kit Carson and the two Crestones.

Rain, Sunset and Views over the Valley

A few days ago we had a good rain, a nice rainbow, a stunning sunset but what pulled at me was a view of the vibrant San Luis Valley layered in green (see pic).

A hike to South Crestone Lake

As we headed up the trail, the views only became better as we looked west over the San Luis Valley. South Crestone lake was about 3000 ft above the trailhead. Shivani & Joe, local friends, joined us.

There was one variation to the excitement of the scenery as we headed up. I heard a deep "muuf" in a steep and heavily wooded area. I heard it again and knew what it was - a bear. Then Shivani heard it. Mia had moved ahead, by herself, to find a bush. Then we heard a louder "MUUF" and a crashing in the bushes. Sort of like a short charge. I started yelling to see if Mia was ok. No answser .. as we stayed together and moved up the trail calling to Mia. Finally she called back, not having a clue what had happened. We were relieved to say the least.

The lake was worth the hike. Julia especially like the dipping as always.

Julia did great. Mia carried her only a 1/2 mile on the way up. On the way down, about 1-1/2 miles from the trailhead, she finally said - Papa, my legs hurt. It was time. She did SO good hiking. I'm glad Joe was there to help carrying too! I was pretty beat. Good day!

Pics here!

My sister visits Crestone

My sister finagled a conference in Denver with a few of her cohorts. They squeezed in some rafting near Buena Vista before staying the night at our place in Crestone. (Oh yeah - then they drove back and attended the conference.)

I didn't get much attention though. Julia got most of that!

We did get a decent picture together at least. It's pretty obvious that I got the good looks. Laura does look pretty good though ... for her age! I'm glad Laura doesn't live close or I'd be hamburger!! :-)

New Rock Climbing Area Discovered Above Crestone

I've been looking for decent rock close to Crestone. Penitente Canyon is across the valley but that is a two hour roundtrip. Sure there's plenty of technical mountaineering routes above Crestone but these usually require a two day commitment. I'm looking for after work climbing or areas I can access for a day of fun.

After much scoping, I decided on a rock to check out in person. This is a serious decision because I only have time after work to run the recons. Of course, my experienced eye keeps the odds in my favor.

I started from Willow Lake TH and headed cross country. Up a hillside, down into a drainage, up a hillside, up a ridge and friggin' BINGO!! I lucked out and found my rock without much trouble. Effort - yes, trouble - no :-) And only a 1/2 hour approach.
I was expecting I would have it to myself to develop but it had been already found and developed. Routes had been bolted! The rock didn't lend itself to gear routes - hence the bolts.

We returned the next day, Saturday. First route was mine, a nice 5.8-. Then Mia led a 5.10/ 5.10+ depending on line and height. My line through the three overhangs was direct and reachy for my 5'-5" stature, leading to my grading of 10+ . This one needed more traffic. It was sort of gravelly in places. Then, I led one of the best short climbs of my life. It started as a traverse over a cave - instant exposure (see photo of me above). Then there was a belay but I continued w/ long slings to keep the rope drag down. The next bolt was 35 ft up but there were flakes everywhere. A sling over a flake kept my anxiety down. The sense of exposure was constant. The crux was bypassing a raptor's nest which was full of hair. After 190 ft of finesse, I sat on top, clipped the anchors and sucked in the view. Finesse is required on this route, the granite is not as solid as Lumpy Ridge. I've climbed a lot of good routes over the years but this one really stands out - especially for a one / two pitch route!

Here's the cliff, I'll mark in the routes as I have time. Also I'll get some GPS coords. Stay tuned.

The land where nuns drive pickup trucks

I did a double take on a large white object sitting on the driver's head. A bit more focus and I figured it out. It was a nun wearing a habit driving an old beater pickup truck. This was Crestone, Colorado (map, sangres.com).

We're breaking away from Boulder for awhile. Our Crestone renter was taking a vacation and we "needed" to fill in. Luckily we have a fast internet connection so we can work. Julia is going to the Rahula Community Preschool.

It will be interesting living in rural Colorado. Crestone fills a nice little pocket of the San Luis Valley and the eye candy in the valley is awesome! It's a lot quieter than the Colorado front range but will it be too quiet? So far not. Climbing, hiking and biking is working fine and oh yes .. working. One thing is the same as Boulder. Crestone has a B20 pump (20% biodiesel). More to come ...

Oh yeah, Julia's pushing the 5.7 climbs at Penitente Canyon - especially if we pull her just a little. :-)